Antiglare headlight



July 31, w KOLB ANTI -GLARE HEADLIGHT Filed April' 21, 1944 2Sheets-Sheet l MQOWg July 31, 1945. Y

J. w. KOLB 2,380,849

ANTI-GLARE HEADLIGHT Filed April 21 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July31, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE lomzofir fiex. Application April21,1944, Serial No. 582121; 1 Claim. (Cl. 24H! This invention relates toan improved antlglare vehicle headlight.

An object of this invention is-to provide an anti-glare headlight whichis so constructed as to eiiminalte glare forwardly of the vehicle and atthe same time to provide an improved lighting for the opposite sides ofthe road.

Another obiwt of this invention is to provide in a, headlight a coloredshield interposed between the light source and the outer lens so'thatdifferentially colored shields. for identification be used at the frontof the vehicle in order t an approaching vehicle will be able todetermine which one of the two headlights has burned out in the eventone of the headlights is not lighted.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved headlightof this kind which is formed with a gravity operated or weighted shieldso that the light rays will not glare too high above the roadway whenthe vehicle is on an inclination or passing over the crest of a hill.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be morefully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed outin the claim appended hereto.

In the drawings wherein like symbols refer to like or correspondingparts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a detailed front elevation, partly broken away, of a pair ofheadlights constructed according to an embodiment of this invention,molmted on the front end of a vehicle.

Figure 2 is-a detailed top plan, partly broken away and in section, ofthe headlights.

Figure 3 is a fragmentarysectiggal view, taken on the line Il of Figure2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view, taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral il designates generally a casingor shield which is adapted to he secured to a vehicle V at the frontthereof, and in the present instance, the casing II is secured to one ofthe tenders F by means of a supporting bracket II. The casing II isconstructed as a fragmentary elipse in longitudinal section havingsubstantially a fragmentary egg shape, and the forward end of the casingII is formed with a lens receiving no or rim II. -A lens, generallydesignated as i2, is mounted in the rim or rib ii, and is substantiallyelliptical in front elevation, and in vertical section is formed at theupper portion thereof as indicated at it on a relatively short radius,whereas the lower portion oi the lens it as indicated at it is formed ona relatively long radius.

The upper lens portion it is provided with inner light deflecting ribsIt and the lower lens portion it is formed with outer light raydeflecting ribs il.

As shown in Figure 2, the rim or lens supporting member ii is disposedat angle to the trersc m of the vehicle V, the angle be ing directedoutwardly from the vehicle so that a larger portion of the lens it bepositioned at t outer side of the vehicle in order that the lig t rayswill light up the mde oi the road. In plan, the lens it as shown inFigure t is formed on a curve having as a center the transverse center01 the w s W.

A reflector, generally designated as it, is mounted within the housingII and extends rearwardly from the lens i2. The reflector ill is provided with a light ray reflecting upper portion II, and the innersurface 2. of the lower portion of the reflector i8 is preferablynon-reflecting. The upper portion ll of the reflector It is formed witha substantially straight forward portion 2i extending from the lens I!and'the straight portion 2i merges into a sharply curved rear portion22. The sharply curved rear portion 2i continues downwardly and thenforwardly on a rela tively long arc. A light bulb socket 28 is carriedby the reflector l8, the socket 23 being disposed with the lower portionthereof substantially co-= planar with the lower edge It of thereflector portion ll. A light bulb I! is mounted in the sociret 23 andis adapted to be connected to a suitable source of current supply bymeans of a conductor 26.

A colored shield 21, which has a configuration substantiallycoincidental with the configuration of the upper portion ll of the lensii, is disposed within the housing i0 adjacent the ribs It. The shield21 is secured within a frame it which comprises a'lower arcuate framemember 22 and a rear upwardly and rearwardly extendi'ng frame member 30.The two frame members 29 and iii are formed integral with each other anda boss I is provided at the junction of the two frame members 29 and}!for receiving a trunnion or pivot member 32 which may extend through thehousing I. and the reflector it.

There are two oi these pivot members it, as

shown in Figure 4.

The shield 21 is gravitatingiy held. in the desired position with thelower edge of the frame member 29 substantially coplanar with the line a24 by means of a pair of weights II. The weights 38 may be formedintegral with the frame 28 and extend downwardly and rearwardlytherefrom, as shown in Figure 3. A pair of upper stop pins 84 arecarried by the reflector II and disposed in a position to engage therear frame member 30 so that in normal position, the frame structure 2!will be substantially horizontal and-1*.

the rear frame member 30 will contact stop members 34. A second pair oflower stop members I! are carried by the reflector l8 below thetrunnions l2 and are positioned to engage stop pins 3!. In addition tolimiting the downward swinging of the frame structure 28, the stop pins35 provide a means to prevent undue rocking of the shield 21, and theframe structure II, if the vehicle is moving over a rough road.

In practice the shields 21 on the drivers side may be colored dark amberand the other shield may be colored dark green for identification whichnot only provides proper safety but also the most desired anti-glareeffect, and an approaching vehicle will be able to determine, in theevent one headlight is inoperative, which one of the. headlights is not.burning, and can thereby be governed accordingly in passing the vehicle.

In the use of these headlights, 'when the light bulbs 25 are energized,the light rays will be projected forwardly and downwardly by thereflecting portion IQ of the reflector l8. In view rays.

of the fact that the headlights are directed forwardly and outwardlyfrom the longitudinal axis rays will be directed toward the front of theroad, and in this manner, will provide one means of the vehicle, themajor portion of the light "The non-reflecting inner surface 20 of thereflector ll may be of such construction as to provide for theprojection of non-glaring light rays which light rays will be directedupwardly throu'gh the shield 21 and the upper lens portion. 4.

. In the event the vehicle is moving on an upward inclination theweights 33 will swing the R shield 21 downwardly'at the forward portionthereof so as to cut off any forwardly projected light rays and preventprojection of any glaring It is of course understood that variouschanges and modifications may be made in the details of construction ofthis invention, such changes and modifications being limited only by thescope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A headlight comprising a casing, a lens carried by said casing, areflector in said casing, a light source in said reflector, adome-shaped light transmitting shield between said lens and saidreflector, means swingably supporting said shield, a downwardly andrearwardly inclined weight dependingly carried by said supporting meansfor gravitatingly maintaining said shield in a position to interceptglaring light rays from saidlight source and said reflector, an upperpair of stopmembers carried. by said reflector engageable with saidsupporting means for limiting the swinging of said supporting means inone direction, and a lower pair of stop members carried by said shieldengageable with said weight for limiting the swinging of said supportingmeans in the opposite direction.

JOHN WILLIAM KOLB.

